Published  by  THE  AMERICAN  IRON  AND  STEEL  ASSOCIATION  at  No.  265  South 
Fourth  Street,  Philadelphia , at  which  place  copies,  of  this  trad  may' be  had  free, 
for  distribution,  on  application  by  letter.  1,  > 9 * > , j ’ n J , 


WHAT  THE  WEST  SAYS  ABOUT 


PROTECTION 


DIVERSIFIED  WESTERN  LABOR. 

Extracts  from  an  Address  delivered  by  Hon.  Frank  W.  Palmer, 
at  the  Agricultural  Fair , at  Morris , III.,  Thursday,  Sept.  11,  1873. 

We  have  met  not  exclusively  as  farmers  but  as  citizens  of  the 
county  of  Grundy — agriculturists,  artisans,  mechanics,  members 
of  all  the  industrial  pursuits  which  contribute  to  the  security  and 
comfort  of  life.  We  have  met  to  give  and  receive  encouragement 
in  the  prosecution  of  honorable  toil.  This  being  the  purpose  of  this 
assemblage,  it  is  not  necessary,  it  would  not  be  fit,  that  I,  coming 
from  a mechanical  pursuit,  should  address  you  upon  theoretical  or 
practical  agriculture.  There  is  another  and  a more  appropriate 
topic,  viz. : the  relation  which  agriculture  bears  to  other  branches 
of  industry;  and  of  this  I propose  to  speak.  I trust  no  one  will 
apprehend  that  in  presenting  this  subject  I shall  transcend  the  pro- 
prieties of  this  occasion  by  discussing  questions  of  partisan  differ- 
ence. Partisanship,  fortunately  or  unfortunately  for  the  country, 
has  by  systems  of  imposts  long  affected  the  interests  and  relations 
of  classes  of  American  labor;  but  there  is  an  inter-state  or  com- 
munity relation  of  industrial  branches  which,  to  a degree,  is  inde- 
pendent of  Federal  imposts,  and  to  this  I shall  endeavor  to  confine 
myself. 

Labor — labor  of  the  hands,  labor  of  the  head,  honest,  progres- 
sive, productive  labor — is  the  natural  inheritance  of  man.  It  is 
the  means  placed  within  his  reach  to  aid  and  defend  him  in  all  the 
changes,  embarrassments,  and  perils  of  life.  Isolated,  it  is  nothing. 


p 2.6  3°° 


2 


DIVERSIFIED  WESTERN  LABOR. 


Associate^.lfe'is  everything.  Fettered,  like  the  galley-slave  to  one 
pursuit,  it**h8CS;*b5eji  and  impotent.  Free,  like  the  aspirations 

of  meij,  it  ;ha^,  .been*  fnflf pendent  and  strong,  battering  down  the 
arbitf&ry* <iistif£ticms  frf  «oagte,  obliterating  fiefs,  manors,  and  lordly 
estates  ip  entail, ‘and  ‘.brlijgjhg  /to  nearer  equality  laity  and  clergy, 
serfs  and;lJaro.ns,  $&«&njts#ahcf  £ings.  Time  was  when  labor  in  cul- 
tivation of  the  sfoilj  tfr/  fn;  the  thousand  arts  which  minister  to  the 
comfort  and  good  of  men,  was  debased ; when  it  cowered  submis- 
sively before  petty  chiefs,  shut  up  in  lordly  castles,  and  worshiped 
the  victors  in  war  as  men  fit  for  the  companionship  of  gods.  All 
this  is  changed.  Legion  has  borne  down  legion,  chief  vanquished 
chief,  victor  leveled  victor ; but  the  power  of  associated  industry 
and  the  arts  of  peace  have  been  greater  levelers  than  all.  Wealth 
does  not  consist  in  money  and  lands,  nor  in  beneficial  titles  and 
possessions.  Without  labor  to  till  the  soil,  to  penetrate  into  the  cav- 
erns of  the  earth,  and  to  court  the  winds  and  breast  the  billows  of 
the  main,  all  these  possessions  would  be  as  valueless  as  the  sands  of 
Sahara.  Three  or  four  centuries  ago  the  masses  began  to  compre- 
hend this  fact.  Then  began  permanent  advancement.  Agriculture, 
as  the  primary  pursuit,  and  commerce  and  the  trades,  were  strength- 
ened and  elevated ; industry  encouraged  intelligence ; intelligence 
pushed  liberty,  and  at  last  the  “ toe  of  the  peasant  galled  the  heel 
of  the  courtier.” 

Labor  has  not  since  retrograded,  but  among  the  several  nations 
stands  in  various  relations.  In  some  it  may  be  regulated  by  cir- 
cumstances of  climate,  or  soil,  or  special  governmental  control ; but 
in  others  it  is  subject  to  regulation  by  the  laboring  classes  them- 
selves. In  a large  majority  of  the  States  of  the  American  Union 
agriculture  is  the  predominant  pursuit.  Commerce  and  trade  are 
simply  supplementary  industries.  Federal  legislation  may  influence 
somewhat  the  products  of  these  States,  but  it  would  not  be  true  to 
say  legislation  determines  them.  Tobacco  is  the  staple  of  Virginia ; 
rice,  of  South  Carolina ; cotton,  of  Alabama ; sugar,  of  Louisiana. 
Illinois,  Iowa,  and  Minnesota  raise  corn  and  wheat.  Climate  and 
soil  favor  these  several  branches  of  husbandry.  But  they  do  not 
limit  them,  nor  does  legislation  control  them.  All  these  States 
might  produce  manufactured  articles  profitably;  might  fabricate 
cotton,  and  wool,  and  iron,  as  well  as  can  the  States  of  Massachu- 
setts, New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania.  The  people  in  these  several 
States  have  voluntarily  given  direction  to  their  forms  of  industry, 
and,  when  they  will,  can  diminish,  or  modify,  or  multiply  them. 


DIVERSIFIED  WESTERN  LABOR. 


3 


Labor  in  the  United  States  being  thus  under ,Jthe  control  of  the 
industrial  classes,  it  is  their  privilege‘s— ay', -their  dtity— to  ascertain 
the  best  system  under  which  it  may  thrive.  ' The  -history  '’of  nations 
teaches  that  the  limitation  of  labor-  W ahy  bnfe1  department  of 
human  industry  does  not  tend  to  thfc  ‘geher^T  good.  " Whether  the 
pursuit  be  agriculture,  or  commerce,  or  manufactures,"  the  result  is 
the  same.  Turkey,  India,  Ireland,  Spain  jahd  Portugal  are  agricul- 
tural countries.  Their  national  dependence  is  everywhere  known. 
Russia  grows  grain  extensively,  as  do  France,  England,  Belgium, 
and  the  States  of  Northern  Germany;  but  the  number  of  their  in- 
habitants engaged  in  other  branches  of  industry,  except  perhaps  in 
Russia,  bears  nearly  an  equal  proportion  to  those  employed  in  the 
cultivation  of  the  soil ; and  these  nations  collectively  represent  the 
wealth  and  independence  of  European  powers. 

It  may  be  urged  that  these  results  are  influenced  by  special  laws, 
and  are  not,  therefore,  conclusive  effects  of  an  industrial  system.  It 
will,  then,  be  well  to  compare  different  American  States  working 
under  the  same  general  laws.  Two  States,  Virginia  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, which  are  similarly  situated  relative  to  climate  and  extent  of 
sea-coast,  may  be  taken  as  fair  representatives  of  the  two  systems  of 
industry.  Virginia  is  an  agricultural  State;  Pennsylvania  is  an 
agricultural  and  manufacturing  State.  Virginia  has  15,352  more 
square  miles  of  territory  than  Pennsylvania,  and  has  nearly  as  ex- 
tensive mineral  deposits  as  the  latter  State.  Between  1790  and 
1800  Virginia  increased  in  population  17.63  per  cent.,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania 38.67  per  cent.  In  1810  the  increase  of  Virginia  was  10.73 
per  cent. ; that  of  Pennsylvania  33.49  per  cent.  In  1820  the  in- 
crease of  Virginia  was  9.51  per  cent. ; that  of  Pennsylvania  29.55 
per  cent.  In  1830  Virginia  showed  a gain  of  13.17  per  cent. ; Penn- 
sylvania 28.47  per  cent.  In  1840  Virginia  showed  an  increase  of 
2.34  per  cent. ; Pennsylvania  27.87  per  cent.  In  1850  Virginia 
showed  a gain  of  14.60  per  cent. ; Pennsylvania  54.29  per  cent.  In 
1860  the  increase  in  Virginia  was  12.29  per  cent.;  Pennsylvania 
25.71  per  cent.  In  1870  the  two  Virginias,  the  separation  of  those 
States  having  been  accomplished  in  that  decade,  showed  an  increase 
of  3.52  per  cent. ; Pennsylvania  20.82  per  cent.  To  what  cause 
other  than  the  diversified  industry  fostered  by  the  latter  State  could 
this  rapid  increase  in  its  population  be  attributed  ? The  soil  of  the 
State  was  neither  so  rich  nor  her  climate  so  genial  as  those  of  the 
Old  Dominion.  Virginia  schooled  its  sons  for  one  pursuit — agricul- 
ture ; Pennsylvania  taught  the  skilled  labor  of  the  forge,  the  loom, 


4 


DIVERSIFIED  WESTERN  LABOR. 


337.3 
l\m  34  W 


and  the  a^vij**  .eighteen  counties  in  Virginia  the  number  of 
inhabitants  in*  ZStCkwas/ijot  ;so  large  in  each  as  it  was  in  1790 — 
eightv-jthrfef  .ago.  ' ' *’  « « ; 

If  it  *Be  trueih^t  tl!e.*j&Gsgerity  of  cities  is  indicative  of  the  opu- 
lence o£6t€ybfs4*and  *itf  nfeGcl/rfof  he  doubted,  a comparison  between 
the  States  hll,j?adynSentU)n«ed  will  show  the  importance  of  diversified 
industry.  In  1870  ’t^efinsylvania  had  seven  cities  containing  over 
20,000  inhabitants;  Virginia  had  one.  Which  State,  think  you, 
afforded  the  readiest  market  for  the  products  of  the  farm  ? In  the 
four  counties  surrounding  Philadelphia  the  average  value  of  farm- 
ing lands  is  $125,  $127,  $160,  and  $215  per  acre,  respectively.  In 
1860  Virginia  had  in  farms  10,745,244  acres,  the  value  of  which 
was  $314,625,226,  and  the  products  of  which  were  valued  at  $85,- 
754,493.  Pennsylvania  had  11,515,965  acres  of  farming  lands, 
worth  $1,043,481,582,  the  products  of  which  were  valued  at  $183,- 
946,027.  This  shows  that  Pennsylvania,  with  little  over  1,000,000 
acres  of  cultivated  land  more  than  Virginia,  had  farm  products 
worth  double  those  of  Virginia,  while  the  soil  itself  was  worth  the 
most  by  nearly  $730,000,000. 

As  a more  comprehensive  evidence  of  the  benefits  to  agriculture 
of  diversified  industry,  Mr.  Caird,  the  highest  British  authority,  in 
his  work  entitled  “English  Agriculture  in  1 850-1  ” after  carefully 
exploring  thirty  English  counties,  reports  that  in  twelve  northern 
counties,  which  include  the  coal  region  and  the  seat  of  mining  and 
manufacturing  enterprise,  agricultural  wages  average  $2.79  a week, 
while  in  eighteen  southern  counties,  whose  productive  industries 
are  greatly  less  diversified,  agricultural  wages  are  not  above  $2.04. 
“ The  influence  of  manufacturing  enterprise  is  thus  seen,”  he  ob- 
serves, “ to  add  thirty -seven  per  cent,  to  the  wages  of  the  agricul- 
tural laborers  of  the  northern  counties,  as  compared  with  those  of 
the  south,  and  the  line  is  distinctly  drawn  at  the  point  where  the 
coal  ceases  to  be  found.”  In  1771  Benjamin  Franklin  wrote  from 
London  as  follows : “ Here  in  England  it  is  well  known  and  under- 
stood that  whenever  a manufactory  is  established  which  employs  a 
number  of  hands  it  raises  the  value  of  lands  in  the  neighboring 
country  all  around  it,  partly  by  the  greater  demand  near  at  hand 
for  the  produce  of  the  land  and  partly  by  the  plenty  of  money 
drawn  by  the  manufactures  to  that  part  of  the  country.  It  seems, 
therefore,  the  interest  of  all  our  farmers  and  landowners  to  encour- 
age our  young  manufacturers.” 

Illinois,  with  its  unparalleled  richness  of  soil  and  its  illimitable 


DIVERSIFIED  WESTERN  LABOR. 


5 


deposits  of  coal,  and  iron  ; its  water  communication  with  the  Atlantic 
seaboard,  either  by  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  or  the  Gulf  of  St.  Law- 
rence ; and  its  unequaled  railway  lines  stretching  to  the  shores  of 
either  ocean,  has  already  profited  largely  by  the  diversification  of 
its  productive  industries;  but  in  almost  every  county  there  is 
room  for  enlargement  and  encouragement  of  the  system.  What  is 
true  of  Illinois  in  this  respect  is  also  true  of  all  the  States  in  the 
Northwest.  We  can  not  afford  to  be  dependent  on  the  production 
of  corn  and  wheat  alone,  and  the  exportation  of  them  to  a foreign 
or  even  a distant  market,  when,  by  the  establishment  of  manufac- 
turing industries  among  us,  we  can  furnish  a far  better  market 
at  home.  The  West  will  never  have  universal,  durable  prosperity 
until  it  shall  have  what  New  England,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania have,  viz. : diversified  productive  industry. 

In  the  very  constitution  of  man  varied  employments  are  necessi- 
ties. Men  are  not  all  of  one  type ; their  bodies  and  minds  of  one 
capacity ; their  actions  ruled  by  one  law.  What  lights  the  imagin- 
ation of  one  falls  insensibly  on  another.  Contiguity  of  varied  in- 
dustries begets  incalculable  benefits.  A few  months  ago  the  super- 
intending physician  of  one  of  the  largest  insane  asylums  in  the 
United  States  was  asked,  in  my  presence,  from  what  class  the  largest 
percentage  of  his  patients  came.  From  what  class  would  you  say  ? 
Lawyers,  doctors,  preachers,  or  editors  ? From  neither ! The  an- 
swer was  that  farmers  furnish  the  largest  class,  and  for  the  reason 
that  their  occupation  is  ordinarily  an  isolated  one,  and,  as  a large 
share  of  the  grievances  and  sorrows  of  this  life  are  mere  fancies,  the 
illusions  are  nursed  and  brooded  over  in  the  loneliness  of  the  field 
and  the  seclusion  of  the  fireside,  and  not  dissipated  by  contact 
with  other  classes,  as  among  men  in  other  pursuits.  So  it  may  be 
safely  assumed  that  the  physical  and  mental  as  well  as  the  financial 
interests  of  men  are  promoted  by  the  contiguity  and  intimate  associ- 
ation of  various  industrial  classes. 

Farmers  of  Grundy  county,  you  may  take  your  own  experience 
as  an  illustration  of  the  policy  I am  endeavoring  to  advocate.  Some 
of  you  came  here  before  the  advent  of  railways  or  even  canals.  To 
profit  by  the  advantages  of  cheap  lands,  under  the  protection  of  free 
and  equal  laws,  and  to  establish  homes  for  your  wives  and  your 
children,  you  came  here  and  encountered  the  hardships,  privations, 
and  suffering  of  pioneer  tillers  of  the  soil.  Compelled  to  haul  your 
corn  or  your  wheat  by  wagon  loads  to  Chicago,  what  was  the  net 
return  for  all  your  labor  ? As  the  tide  of  immigration  approached 


6 


WESTERN  MANUFACTURES. 


nearer  and  nearer  to  you,  for  what  class  of  neighbors  and  helpers 
did  you  look  most  eagerly  ? Did  you  look  for  farmers  like  your- 
selves, who  would  aid  in  swelling  the  amount  of  surplus  agricultu- 
ral crops,  or  did  you  look,  rather,  for  the  advent  of  blacksmiths, 
carpenters,  shoemakers,  manufacturers,  merchants,  printers,  school- 
teachers, artists — men  who  would  be  consumers  of  the  products  of 
the  farm,  and  help  to  bring  to  you  a market  at  your  own  doors  ? 
What  a limited  diversification  of  labor  has  already  accomplished 
for  you,  a generous  system  of  manufactures  might  accomplish 
almost  unlimitedly.  Your  farms  are  underlaid  with  coal;  you 
have  an  abundance  of  good  water ; you  can  have  skilled  labor  with- 
out stint;  and  your  facilities  for  transportation  are  good.  Why 
should  your  prosperity  be  circumscribed  ? 

Within  the  last  quarter  of  a century  there  have  grown  up 
throughout  the  Great  West  a long  line  of  industries  of  such  magni- 
tude that  they  are  now  boldly  competing  with  the  same  class  of 
industries  that  in  Great  Britain  have  a growth  of  two  or  three 
centuries.  These  include  nearly  the  whole  range  of  mechanical 
industries,  with  the  exception  of  textile  manufactures.  Among 
these  are  not  only  the  rougher  grades  of  machinery,  like  saw  mills, 
flouring  mills,  iron  mills,  nail  mills,  and  rail  mills,  steam  engines, 
(stationary,  locomotive  and  marine,)  rails  and  rolling  stock,  bridges, 
etc.,  agricultural  implements  of  every  description,  heavy  and  light 
wagons  and  carriages,  but  the  finer  and  more  elaborate  kind  of 
manufactures,  such  as  watches,  jewelry,  scientific  instruments,  silver- 
plated  ware,  cutlery,  edged  tools,  hardware,  etc.,  etc. — Chicago 
Western  Manufacturer. 

Protecting  Home  Industry. — The  Appeal , of  West  Point, 
Iowa,  stands  up  for  home  industries,  as  the  following  bears  witness : 
“ Charity  begins  at  home,  and  self-preservation  is  the  duty,  not  only 
of  individuals,  but  of  communities.  Public  enterprise  is  the  lever 
that  has  made  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world  what  they  are 
to-day ; and  the  lack  of  public  enterprise  has  made  other  nations  a 
blot  upon  the  surface  of  the  earth,  a clog  on  the  wheels  of  progress, 
a drag  on  the  march  of  improvement.  But  we  are  not  particularly 
exercised  over  the  manifestation  of  public  spirit  in  other  parts  of 
the  world.  Our  interest  begins  here  at  home.” 

Machine-made  doors,  window  frames,  and  sashes  of  Western 
manufacture  are  becoming  a large  article  of  export. 


PROTECTION  AND  AGRICULTURE. 


7 


PROTECTION  AND  AGRICULTURE. 

From  The  Indianapolis  Journal. 

Nothing  in  the  moral  world  is  more  certain  than  that  the  pros- 
perity and  welfare  of  the  country  demand  a policy  of  judicious 
Protection.  It  is  the  habit  of  some  to  dismiss  the  consideration  of 
this  subject  with  the  remark  that  it  concerns  only  the  manufacturing 
interest,  and  consequently  is  interesting  only  to  a class.  There  could 
be  no  greater  mistake  than  this.  It  concerns  all  interests,  the  de- 
velopment of  the  whole  country,  and  the  prosperity  of  every  indi- 
vidual. If  Protection  is  the  true  policy,  as  reason,  experience,  and 
facts  prove  it  to  be,  the  farmers  of  Indiana  and  the  West  are  as 
much  interested  in  its  establishment  as  are  the  manufacturers  of 
New  England  and  the  East.  For  it  stands  to  reason  that  the  devel- 
opment of  manufactures  means  the  creation  of  a home  market  for 
the  products  of  the  soil,  with  diversified  industry  and  general  pros- 
perity. The  development  of  manufactures  not  only  creates  a new 
demand  for  labor  in  that  field,  thus  inuring  to  the  benefit  of  the 
laboring  man,  but  adds  to  the  class  of  consumers  and  creates  an  in- 
creased demand  for  the  products  of  the  soil,  thus  contributing  di- 
rectly to  the  prosperity  of  the  farmer.  That  this  was  the  view  of 
the  fathers  of  the  Government  is  very  clear.  Hamilton  was  the 
father  of  the  Protective  policy.  Washington  and  Jefferson,  the  first 
two  Presidents,  were  both  farmers,  and  both  repeatedly  urged  in 
their  messages  a governmental  policy  to  promote  manufactures.  It 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  they  did  this  to  develop  one  class  at  the 
expense  of  others,  or  to  build  up  manufactures  at  the  expense  of 
agriculture.  They  did  it  because  they  knew  the  development  of 
manufactures  meant  the  development  of  agriculture  by  the  creation 
of  home  markets  and  increased  demand  for  agricultural  products. 
The  direct  benefit  to  agriculture  of  the  development  of  manufactures 
" will  appear  from  a few  considerations : 

First,  suppose  the  case  of  a farmer  without  any  market  at  all  for 
his  surplus  products.  Suppose  him  to  be  located  in  the  midst  of  an 
extensive  plain  or  valley,  fertile  and  productive,  but  inaccessible 
and  so  completely  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  that  he  would 
have  no  market  at  all.  Not  only  would  the  results  of  his  toil  be 
greatly  lessened  by  the  impossibility  of  procuring  labor-saving  ma- 
chinery and  implements,  but  all  that  he  produced  over  and  above 
the  wants  of  himself  and  family  would  be  sheer  waste.  It  would 
be  dead  loss  for  the  lack  of  a market.  The  condition  of  such  a 
farmer  would  be  most  deplorable.  Second,  suppose  that  instead  of 


8 


PROTECTION  AND  AGRICULTURE. 


no  market  at  all  he  had  a very  distant  market,  say  a manufacturing 
city  or  town  a hundred  miles  distant,  and  accessible  only  by  country 
road.  This  would  be  an  improvement  on  the  former  situation,  but 
still  very  far  from  a happy  condition.  The  remoteness  of  the  mar- 
ket and  the  difficulty  of  reaching  it  would  prevent  him  from  avail- 
ing himself  of  it  with  any  regularity,  and  would  practically  compel 
him  to  accept  whatever  might  be  offered  him  for  his  products.  If 
other  farmers  were  situated  near  the  market  he  would  be  completely 
at  their  mercy  in  every  respect.  He  could  market  but  very  few 
articles,  and  would  have  to  take  the  buyers’  price  for  what  he  did 
market.  But,  third,  suppose  a manufacturing  town  to  spring  up 
within  a few  miles  of  the  farmer’s  house,  and  the  means  of  com- 
munication were  such  as  to  enable  him  to  market  his  products  every 
day  or  whenever  it  suited  him.  Now,  he  not  only  has  a steady  and 
reliable  market  for  all  he  can  produce,  at  good  prices,  but  he  is  en- 
couraged to  engage  in  branches  of  agriculture  untried  before,  and 
to  produce  articles  which  he  had  never  dreamed  there  was  any  de- 
mand for  or  any  profit  in.  By  the  cheapening  of  many  things 
which  he  needed,  and  which  are  now  produced  almost  at  his  door, 
his  labor  is  rendered  more  easy  and  productive,  while  the  surplus 
produce  which  before  wTas  accustomed  to  decay  on  his  hands  now 
finds  steady  and  profitable  sale. 

The  foregoing  simple  illustration,  if  applied  on  a large  scale,  will 
show  the  effect  of  developing  manufactures  on  agriculture.  To 
state  the  case  in  a nutshell,  Protection  creates  a home  market  for  home 
products.  It  tends  to  shorten  the  distance  between  the  farmer  and 
the  manufacturer,  the  producer  and  the  consumer,  thus  diminishing 
to  both  the  cost  of  exchanging  their  respective  products,  and  secur- 
ing to  the  farmer  not  only  surer  and  steadier  markets  for  his  pro- 
duce but  a better  recompense  for  his  labor.  If  the  farmers  of  In- 
diana will  only  think  about  this  matter  they  can  not  fail  to  see  where 
their  true  interest  lies,  and  to  see,  also,  the  suicidal  folly  of  a policy 
which  would  destroy  their  home  markets. 

When  the  United  States  were  colonial  dependencies  of  Great 
Britain  she  governed  us  by  bad  laws ; now  that  we  are  politically 
independent  she  seeks  to  govern  us  by  bad  logic.  She  urges  upon 
us  the  adoption  of  a Free  Trade  policy,  not  because  she  believes  it 
will  be  beneficial  to  us  but  because  she  knows  it  will  be  highly 
advantageous  to  her.  Not  until  she  had  developed  and  diversified 
her  industries  to  a marvelous  degree  by  centuries  of  the  most  strin- 


WESTERN  FARMERS  FIFTY-FIVE  YEARS  AGO. 


9 


gent  Protection  the  world  ever  saw ; not  until  she  excelled  all  other 
countries  in  the  quantity,  variety,  and  excellence  of  her  labor-sav- 
ing machinery ; not  until  she  had  so  organized  resources,  multiplied 
skill,  and  accumulated  wealth  as  to  be  able  to  bid  defiance  to  all 
foreign  competition,  did  she  begin  to  open  her  ports  as  an  invitation 
to  other  nations  to  do  the  same.  Even  then  her  supreme  object  was 
to  kick  down  the  ladder  by  which  she  had  mounted  to  the  heights 
she  occupied,  so  that  no  other  people  could  follow  after  her. — Chi- 
cago Commercial  Advertiser. 

WESTERN  FARMERS  FIFTY-FIVE  YEARS  AGO. 

From  The  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

Soon  after  the  panic  of  1873  the  pressure  of  unprofitable  prices 
descended  with  increasing  severity  upon  our  manufacturers,  accom- 
panied by  a diminishing  demand  for  their  products.  Meanwhile 
the  values  of  breadstuff's  and  provisions  were  sustained  to  a remark- 
able degree,  to  which  was  added  a continuous  demand  in  foreign 
countries,  augmented  to  quantities  never  before  equaled  in  the  his- 
tory of  our  exportations.  The  exchangeable  value  of  wheat,  of 
corn,  of  cattle,  and  of  hogs,  as  measured  against  the  value  of  man- 
ufactured articles,  was  largely  enhanced  by  the  shrinking  prices  of 
the  latter.  It  became  notorious  that  Western  farmers  constituted 
the  most  prosperous  portion  of  our  people,  they  least  of  all  our 
classes  having  been  touched  by  the  almost  universal  and  calamitous 
depression  which  quickly  followed  the  financial  revulsion.  Not 
until  last  year  did  the  embarrassment  of  unremunerative  prices 
reach  the  agricultural  community.  But,  however  unsatisfactory 
and  unrewarding  may  have  been  the  prices  of  farm  produce  since 
the  close  of  last  year,  the  condition  does  not  begin  to  compare  with 
the  deplorable  severity  which  existed  throughout  the  West  some 
fifty-five  years  ago.  Mr.  Ewing,  of  Ohio,  in  a speech  delivered  in 
the  United  States  Senate  in  February,  1832,  made  the  graphic  state- 
ment given  below : 

In  short,  every  portion  of  the  world  was  searched  by  our  intelligent  mer- 
chants, and  all  combined  did  not  furnish  a market  adequate  to  our  surplus 
productions.  Every  farmer  in  Ohio  long  knew  and  felt  the  pressure  conse- 
quent upon  this  state  of  things.  Year  after  year  their  stacks  of  wheat  stood 
unthreshed,  scarcely  worth  the  manual  labor  of  separating  the  grain  from  the 
straw ; so  low  was  it  reduced,  in  comparison  with  manufactured  articles,  that 
I have  known  forty  bushels  of  wheat  given  for  a pair  of  boots  ; such  was  the  state 
of  things  in  the  Western  country  prior  to,  and  at  the  time  of,  the  revision  of 
the  tariff  in  1824. 


10 


WESTERN  FARMERS  FIFTY-FIVE  YEARS  AGO. 


Our  farmers  are  very  far  above  such  an  abyss  of  depression  as 
that.  The  privations  of  those  days  of  ruinous  cheapness  are  in  no 
danger  of  repetition  now.  Since  then  comparative  comfort  has  en- 
tered the  homes  of  those  who  cultivate  the  soil,  and  it  has  come  to 
remain.  If  prices  for  agricultural  produce  are  unprofitably  low, 
there  is  a steady  market  for  the  surplus,  and  there  is  a strong  prom- 
ise of  continued  vastness  in  the  foreign  demand.  Assuredly  the 
farmers  in  1824  were  very  much  worse  off  than  the  farmers  are  in 
1879.  The  latter  enjoy  a paradise  of  privileges  and  blessings,  as 
contrasted  with  the  disadvantages  and  hardships  of  the  former. 

In  another  part  of  his  speech  Senator  Ewing  said : 

Our  manufactures  were  annihilated ; our  home  market  was  thus  cut  off;  the 
foreign  ports  were,  in  effect,  closed  against  us ; the  market  which  our  armies 
had  afforded  the  Western  farmer  during  the  war  had  ceased;  that  army  dis- 
banded ; the  soldiers  became  farmers,  and  added  their  quota  to  the  vast  amount 
of  our  surplus  agricultural  products ; the  only  market  that  remained  open  to 
us  was  a small  portion  of  the  Eastern  and  Southern  States,  the  West  India 
Islands,  and,  to  a limited  extent,  the  coast  of  South  America;  consequently, 
our  produce  was  freighted  upon  the  waters,  and  sent  downward  to  New  Or- 
leans, but  the  supply  exceeded  the  demand  twice  told ; the  market  was  glut- 
ted ; the  price  went  down  almost  to  nothing ; and  many  a mercantile  enter- 
prise there  has  involved  even  more  than  a total  loss.  I well  recollect  an  in- 
stance in  which,  after  the  sale  of  boat  and  cargo,  and  placing  the  proceeds  to 
the  credit  of  the  freighter,  the  balance  against  him,  as  claimed  by  the  commis- 
sion merchant,  was  something  more  than  $400.  This,  however,  was  an  ex- 
treme case  ; but,  generally,  from  about  the  year  1821  to  1825  the  export  trade 
was  ruinous  to  all  who  engaged  in  it.  The  truth  is  no  foreign  market  what- 
ever, beyond  the  very  narrow  limits  which  I have  specified,  did  exist. 

How  different  the  situation  to-day,  with  all  its  ground  for  com- 
plaint ! If,  as  then,  nearly  the  whole  of  our  surplus  products  should 
be  deprived  of  an  outlet  to  foreign  countries,  and  should  remain  a 
glutting  weight  upon  our  domestic  markets,  crushing  prices  down  to 
the  very  minimum,  the  case  would  be  infinitely  worse  than  it  is. 
Perhaps  no  other  comparison  could  more  vividly  illustrate  the  pro- 
digious improvement  which  has  taken  place  in  the  character  and 
position  of  American  agriculture  during  the  last  half  century.  It 
has  a vital  force,  an  elasticity,  a diversification,  and  a world-wide 
influence  not  dreamed  of  in  the  days  of  1824.  The  overwhelming 
vicissitudes  of  the  olden  times  are  scarcely  to  be  feared  when  the 
mechanic  arts  have  been  brought  to  such  a high  degree  of  develop- 
ment, and  locomotives,  with  their  trains  of  cars,  have  become  our 
beasts  of  burden. 


TARIFF  PROTECTION  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  EXPERIENCE.  11 


TARIFF  PROTECTION  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF 
EXPERIENCE. 

From  The  Chicago  Commercial  Advertiser. 

The  most  convincing  proof  in  favor  of  thq,  Protective  policy  is 
that  all  the  prosperous  periods  enjoyed,  Jjy>  thjs  .country  have  been 
when  the  duties  on  imports  have  been  high.  Tlje  most  conclusive 
argument  against  the  Free  Trade  policy  ig  that  levy  .duties  have 
always  been  followed  by  the  oispigamzation  of  opr  industry  and 
the  pressure  of  hard  times.  More  than,  -,h^ pur  tariff,  history  is  the 
history  of  a see-saw  of  experiments  with  hostile  systems,  in  which 
Protection  succeeded  partial  Free  Trade,  and  partial  Free  Trade 
supplanted  Protection.  Until  the  series  of  tariffs  which  began  in 
1861  we  had  tried  only  two  periods  of  Protection — one  of  nine 
years,  and  another  of  four.  In  both  of  these  cases  partial  Free 
Trade  had  so  completely  broken  down  industry  and  commerce  that 
a resort  to  Protection  was  rendered  compulsory ; and,  in  both  cases, 
our  business  interests  were  rescued  from  paralysis,  imbued  with 
robust  life,  and  raised  into  conspicuous  prosperity. 

Our  first  tariff  worthy  of  the  name  of  Protection  was  that  of 
1824.  For  a number  of  years  previous  to  that  date  the  condition 
of  the  whole  country  was  deplorable.  The  American  markets  were 
flooded  with  foreign  merchandise.  Home  manufacturers  were  every- 
where overmastered  by  ruinous  competition  from  abroad.  Employ- 
ment was  scarce  and  wages  ridiculously  low.  An  embarrassed 
condition  was  the  common  lot.  Gloom  and  despondency  filled  the 
public  countenance.  Enterprise  was  dead.  So  soon  as  the  tariff 
of  1824  went  into  operation  the  whole  aspect  and  course  of  affairs 
were  changed.  Activity  took  the  place  of  sluggishness.  Capital 
sought  investments.  Labor  came  into  demand.  Wages  advanced. 
Mines  were  opened,  furnaces  built,  mills  started,  shops  multiplied. 
Business  revived  in  all  its  departments.  Revenue  flowed  copiously 
into  the  coffers  of  the  Government.  The  debts  created  by  two  ex- 
pensive wars  were  entirely  paid  off.  Such  a scene  of  general  pros- 
perity had  never  before  been  seen  by  our  people.  More  stringent 
Protection  was  provided  by  the  act  of  1828,  and  affairs  still  more 
rapidly  improved.  President  Jackson  said,  in  his  annual  message, 
December  4,  1832:  “Our  country  presents  on  every  side  marks 
of  prosperity  and  happiness,  unequaled,  perhaps,  in  any  other  por- 
tion of  the  world.” 

Then  came  the  nullification  times  of  South  Carolina  and  the 
compromise  tariff  of  1833.  This  act  took  effect  January  1,  1834, 


12  TARIFF  PROTECTION  IN  THE  LIGHT  OF  EXPERIENCE. 


and  was  to  operate  by  a series  of  periodical  reductions  of  the  rates 
on  imports  until  June  30,  1842,  after  which  date  no  duty  was  to 
exceed  twenty  per  cent.  Under  this  legislation  industry  and  trade 
soon  declined,.*  Foreign.  gQQds  poured  like  an  inundation  into  our 
markets.  Embarrassment-. took  the  place  of  thrift.  Less  than 
three  and  a half  years  brought  the  panic  and  the  collapse  of  1837. 
Affairs  went  from  bad /to  worse..  'The  Government  became  impover- 
ished with  the:*  people.  Its  resources  sank  so  low  that  President 
Tyler  could  ijQt  at , phe;  tijnp  obtain  the  payment  of  his  salary,  and 
had  to  resort  to  the  brokers  for  loans.  The  credit  of  the  United 
States  was  so  damaged  that  a loan  for  so  small  a sum  as  twelve 
million  dollars  could  not  be  negotiated  at  home  nor  abroad,  and  the 
President  bewailed  this  fact  in  his  annual  message  to  Congress, 
December  7,  1842. 

Alleviation  was  sought  and  obtained  by  the  Protective  tariff  of 
1842,  the  best  measure  of  the  kind  we  have  had  in  all  our  history. 
The  effect  was  almost  magical.  Recuperation  began  at  once,  and  was 
accelerated  with  the  progress  of  time.  A most  extraordinary  revi- 
val of  production  and  trade  was  speedily  accomplished.  We  may  sum 
up  the  results  in  the  words  of  President  Polk’s  annual  message, 
December  8,  1846,  as  follows:  “Labor  in  all  its  branches  is  re- 
ceiving an  ample  reward,  while  education,  science,  and  the  arts  are 
rapidly  enlarging  the  means  of  social  happiness.  The  progress  of 
our  country  in  her  career  of  greatness,  not  only  in  the  vast  exten- 
sion of  our  territorial  limits,  and  in  the  rapid  increase  of  our  popu- 
lation, but  in  resources  and  wealth,  and  in  the  happy  condition  of 
our  people,  is  without  an  example  in  the  history  of  nations.” 

When  these  glowing  words  were  published  the  Free  Trade  tariff 
of  1846  had  been  in  operation  just  eight  days.  Again  the  country 
took  the  downward  way.  Although  the  movement  was  slower  than 
from  1833,  the  decadence  went  on  steadily.  Our  Presidents  ceased 
to  congratulate  the  country  on  its  prosperity.  Yet  a further  re- 
duction of  the  tariff  took  place  in  1857,  followed,  in  a few  months, 
by  the  panic  of  that  year.  Revenue  declined.  Wages  went  down. 
Employment  at  any  pay  was  hard  to  find.  Just  before  the  Rebell- 
ion the  Government  was  borrowing  money  to  pay  its  ordinary  ex- 
penses in  time  of  peace. 

In  1861  was  passed  that  Protective  tariff  which  the  Free  Traders 
denounced  as  “ the  bill  of  abominations.”  Under  that  and  the  fol- 
lowing acts  we  once  more  had  a marvelous  recuperation  of  produc- 
tion and  commerce.  For  about  eighteen  years  we  have  been  living 


TREATIES  OF  COMMERCE. 


13 


under  that  system.  It  has  given  to  the  country  a diversification  of 
employment  and  development  of  resources  without  a parallel  in  our 
history.  The  panic  of  1873  is  the  only  financial  revulsion  we  have 
had  in  a Protective  period,  and  from  the  effects  of  that  we  are  re- 
covering with  Protection  in  full  force.  Production  in  many  branches 
of  the  mechanic  arts  is  so  far  above  our  own  wants  that  we  are  be- 
ginning to  look  abroad  for  new  markets.  Our  manufacturers  have 
so  largely  secured  the  home  demand  that  the  balance  of  trade  has 
turned  immensely,  and  it  is  thought  permanently,  in  our  favor. 

Such  are  the  fruits  of  Protection  to  native  industry.  The  teach- 
ings of  experience  are  worth  far  more  than  the  enticing  yet  falla- 
cious plausibilities  of  so-called  political  economy.  We  have  abun- 
dantly the  tests  of  experiments  to  guide  us  in  forming  our  judgment 
of  the  respective  merits  of  Tariff  Protection  and  Free  Trade. 
Those  tests  indicate  it  to  be  the  part  of  wisdom  to  adhere  unflinch- 
ingly to  our  present  policy  of  duties  on  imports. 


TREATIES  OF  COMMERCE. 

From  The  Chicago  Inter-Ocean. 

A recent  cable  dispatch  makes  the  following  announcement : 

A delegation  from  the  French  committee  to  promote  the  Franco- American 
Treaty  of  Commerce  waited  on  M.  Tierard,  the  Minister  of  Commerce,  and 
called  his  attention  to  Fernando  Wood's  motion  in  the  United  States  House 
of  Representatives,  relative  to  commercial  relations.  Tierard  received  the 
delegation  very  cordially.  He  stated  that  he  was  in  favor  of  a reciprocity 
treaty,  and  his  Department  would  give  the  matter  the  most  serious  consider- 
ation. 

We  do  not  perceive  where  the  power  on  the  part  of  our  Govern- 
ment is  to  be  found  to  negotiate  the  sort  of  commercial  treaty  which 
is  contemplated.  Under  the  constitution,  authority  to  make  treaties 
is  lodged  exclusively  in  the  hands  of  the  President  and  of  the 
Senate,  acting  concurrently ; but  no  participating  power,  either  to 
initiate,  or  to  promote,  or  to  modify,  or  to  negative,  has  been  confer- 
red upon  the  House  of  Representatives.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
constitution  provides  that  “all  bills  for  raising  revenue  shall  origi- 
nate in  the  House  of  Representatives ; but  the  Senate  may  propose 
or  concur  with  amendments  as  on  other  bills.”  From  the  founda- 
tion of  the  Government  it  has  been  recognized  as  a principle  of  our 
legislation  that  every  measure  which  would  have  the  effect  of  in- 
creasing, or  diminishing,  or  regulating  the  revenue  must  be  initiated 


14 


TREATIES  OF  COMMERCE. 


in  the  popular  branch  of  Congress.  With  reference  to  treaties  and 
to  revenue  acts,  the  division  of  power  between  the  Senate  and  the 
House  is  clear,  definite,  positive,  and  permanent.  It  is  unconstitu- 
tional for  either  branch  to  cross  the  threshold  of  the  power  granted 
to  the  other.  Each  of  the  two  bodies  has  its  peculiar  functions  to 
exercise  and  its  separate  duties  to  perform.  The  House  would  be- 
come less  than  the  constitution  designed  it  to  be  if  the  Senate 
should  invade  or  subvert  its  sole  authority  to  originate  bills  to  raise 
revenue. 

Now,  this  proposed  treaty  of  commerce  between  France  and  tBte 
United  States  is  open  to  this  very  objection  of  encroachment  upon 
the  constitutional  prerogative  of  the  House.  It  is  proposed  to  fix 
by  treaty  the  duties  on  a considerable  number  of  articles  imported 
into  this  country  from  France,  so  as  to  grant  special  rates  in  ex- 
change for  concessions  made  from  the  French  general  tariff,  to  suit 
the  wishes  or  to  promote  the  interests  of  those  of  our  citizens  who 
are  engaged  in  exporting  merchandise  to  France.  Such  an  arrange- 
ment would  take  away,  for  the  time  stipulated  in  the  text  of  the 
treaty,  the  power  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  either  increase 
or  diminish  the  specified  duties,  so  far  as  the  treaty-country  was 
concerned.  No  matter  what  might  be  the  exigencies  of  our  Gov- 
ernment, nor  how  urgent  the  need  for  additional  revenue,  the  com- 
merce of  France  with  the  United  States  could  not  be  made  to 
contribute  anything  further  to  our  national  income,  by  advancing 
the  duties  on  imports.  If  it  should  be  deemed  advisable  by  Con- 
gress, as  it  was  during  the  War  of  1812,  to  double  the  tariff  on  all 
articles,  the  imports  from  France  would  have  to  be  excepted  from 
the  sweeping  provision.  Whenever  the  changed  circumstances  of 
this  country  should  render  necessary  a new  adjustment  of  our  tariff, 
our  commercial  relations  with  France  could  not  be  brought  within 
the  scope  of  the  new  regulations.  So  much  of  the  revenue  derived 
by  our  Government  from  duties  on  imports  as  came  or  could  come 
from  imports  from  France  would  be  irrevocably  fixed  by  the  action 
of  the  President  and  the  Senate,  in  the  shape  of  a treaty ; and,  to 
that  extent,  the  authority  over  the  revenue  given  exclusively  to  the 
House  by  the  constitution  would  be  subverted,  and  transferred  to 
the  treaty-making  power,  where  its  existence  and  exercise  would  be 
a usurpation  and  a misapplied  function.  It  never  could  have  been 
intended  by  the  organic  law  that  a power  given  to  one  branch  of 
Congress  in  express  terms,  and  to  that  one  alone,  should  be  enjoyed 
also  by  another  department  of  the  Government.  Nor  is  the  force 


TREATIES  OF  COMMERCE. 


15 


of  this  reasoning  diminished  by  the  fact  that  the  prerogative  con- 
ferred upon  the  House  of  Representatives  relates  to  “ bills  for  raising 
revenue.”  It  is  only  through  the  medium  of  “bills”  that,  under 
our  political  system,  any  proposition  for  raising  revenue  can  take  a 
practical  shape.  Treaties  have  not  been  employed  for  that  purpose, 
and  were  not  designed  by  the  framers  of  the  constitution  to  fulfill 
that  office ; otherwise,  the  sphere  and  object  of  treaties  would  have 
been  more  clearly  defined,  or  else  the  exclusive  control  over  revenue 
measures  given  to  the  House  would  have  been  modified  by  an  ex- 
ceptional reference  to  treaties.  All  enactments,  including  treaties, 
made  in  pursuance  of  the  constitution  are  declared  to  be  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  land ; consequently,  a constitutional  treaty  is  no 
less  a law  than  a constitutional  bill  passed  into  a law.  A treaty  law, 
however,  originates  with  the  Executive  Department,  and  receives 
its  binding  force  from  the  concurrence  of  the  President  and  the 
Senate,  co-operating  with  some  foreign  government,  while  a revenue 
law  originates , in  the  shape  of  a bill,  wholly  and  exclusively  within 
the  body  called  the  House  of  Representatives — the  body  which  most 
nearly  affiliates  with  the  principle  that  taxation  and  representation 
go  together,  and  receives  its  binding  force  from  the  concurrence  of 
the  House,  the  Senate,  and  the  President,  or  from  the  concurrence 
of  two-thirds  of  each  branch  of  Congress  overriding  an  Executive 
veto,  and  without  the  participation  or  intervention,  at  any  stage  of 
the  legislation,  of  any  foreign  government  whatever.  How  is  it 
possible,  then,  to  do  by  a treaty  law  what  is  specifically  reserved  to 
a revenue  law,  without  violating  an  express  stipulation  of  the  organic 
law,  and  making  usurpation  the  measure  of  authority?  A wise 
dread  of  “ entangling  alliances  ” — of  “ European  ambition,  rivalship, 
interest,  humor,  or  caprice” — was  upon  those  sagacious  men  who 
formed  our  Union;  and  a considerable  part  of  Washington's  fare- 
well address  is  devoted  to  warnings  of  which  the  following  sentence 
is  an  example : “ Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign  influence  I 

conjure  you  to  believe  me,  fellow-citizens,  the  jealousy  of  a free 
people  ought  to  be  constantly  awake,  since  history  and  experience 
prove  that  foreign  influence  is  one  of  the  most  baneful  foes  of  re- 
publican government.”  It  is  not  supposable  that  patriots  who  held 
to  such  views  designed  in  the  constitution  to  make  any  treaty,  neces- 
sarily involving  the  concurrence  of  a foreign  country,  an  appropriate 
or  an  available  medium  through  which  to  fix  duties  on  imports,  and 
thereby  determine  how  much  or  how  little  revenue  should  be  raised 
from  our  commerce  with  some  favored  nation. 


16 


TREATIES  OF  COMMERCE. 


Another  insuperable  objection  to  the  proposed  treaty  is  the  con- 
stitutional provision  that  “all  duties,  imposts  and  excises  shall  be 
uniform  throughout  the  United  States.”  Would  there  be  uniformity 
if  one  set  of  duties  should  be  levied  on  imports  from  France,  and  a 
totally  different  set  on  imports  from  all  other  countries?  Would 
duties  be  uniform  when  French  silks  could  be  entered  at  our  custom 
houses  at  a lower  rate  than  German  or  English  silks  ? The  consti- 
tutional provision  seems  to  signify  that  there  shall  be,  in  fixing  du- 
ties, no  favoritism,  not  merely  of  one  State  of  the  Union  over  an- 
other State,  but  also  of  one  nation  over  another  nation.  There 
appears  to  be  no  escape  from  this  interpretation,  when  we  reflect 
that,  at  the  time  of  framing  the  constitution,  a belief  was  universal 
among  the  people  that  the  surest  way  to  avoid  foreign  complications, 
and  to  secure  immunity  from  external  annoyance,  was  to  adopt  an 
impartial  foreign  policy.  “ Equal  rights  for  all,  exclusive  privileges 
to  none,”  was  the  motto  of  those  days,  and  should  be  of  these. 

But,  aside  from  the  constitutional  question,  there  is  an  invincible 
obstacle  of  a practical  nature.  We  have  a number  of  treaties  with 
various  nations  containing  what  is  technically  known  as  the  “favor- 
ed-nation-clause,” which  is  a stipulation  that  every  privilege  of 
commerce  which  is  allowed  by  us  to  any  one  country  shall  also  be 
enjoyed  by  the  other  countries  with  which  we  have  these  treaties. 
As  regards  ourselves,  such  an  engagement  is  both  consistent  with 
the  provisions  of  our  constitution  and  harmless  to  our  interests,  be- 
cause our  tariff  is  of  a general  character,  affecting  all  countries 
alike,  leaving  us  perfectly  free  to  abolish  or  to  vary  the  duties  as 
experience  and  circumstances  may  require ; but,  if  we  should  inaugu- 
rate a conventional  tariff  with  France,  allotting  to  her  special  privi- 
leges and  advantages  of  import  into  the  United  States,  those 
countries  to  which  we  are  bound  by  the  “favored-nation-clause” 
could  and  might  justly  demand  equal  participation  in  such  privi- 
leges and  advantages.  The  proposed  Franco- American  treaty  of 
commerce  might,  therefore,  in  practical  effect,  amount  to  a general 
revision  of  our  customs  laws  of  the  most  unfortunate  kind,  since  we 
would  thereby  lose,  to  the  extent  of  the  change  effectuated,  all  power 
to  rectify,  alter,  amend,  or  modify,  by  legislation,  so  long  as  the 
treaty  with  France  should  continue  obligatory  upon  our  Govern- 
ment, or  until  the  expiration  of  the  treaties  which  contained  the 
“ favored-nation-clause.”  Under  such  conditions  the  encroachment 
of  the  treaty-making  power  upon  the  constitutional  prerogative  of 
the  House  of  Kepresentatives  to  “ originate  ” all  measures  affecting 


TREATIES  OF  COMMERCE. 


17 


the  revenue  would  be  radical  and  sweeping  indeed.  Surely,  in 
defining  the  treaty-making  power,  the  framers  of  the  constitution 
can  not  reasonably  be  supposed  to  have  designed  to  create  such  a 
confusion  of  functions,  and  such  a clash  between  agencies.  It  would 
be  not  only  illogical  but  even  rashly  puerile  to  assume  the  ex- 
istence of  any  such  intent.  From  whatever  point  of  view  we  regard 
the  proposed  treaty,  it  appears  to  be  a project  violative  of  the  ex- 
press provisions  of  our  organic  law,  and  hence  unworthy  to  be 
entertained,  as  well  as  impracticable  in  its  nature. 

There  is  a paragraph  in  Washington’s  farewell  address,  so  feli- 
citously suited  to  the  subject  in  hand,  that  we  can  not  refrain  from 
quoting  it  now  and  here  : 

Harmony  and  a liberal  intercourse  with  all  nations  are  recommended  by 
policy,  humanity,  and  interest.  But  even  our  commercial  policy  should  hold 
an  equal  and  impartial  hand ; neither  seeking  nor  granting  exclusive  favors 
or  preferences ; consulting  the  natural  course  of  things ; diffusing  and  diver- 
sifying by  gentle  means  the  stream  of  commerce,  but  forcing  nothing ; estab- 
lishing with  Powers  so  disposed  (in  order  to  give  trade  a stable  course,  to 
define  the  rights  of  our  merchants,  to  enable  the  Government  to  support  them,) 
conventional  rules  of  intercourse,  the  best  that  present  circumstances  and 
natural  opinion  will  permit,  but  temporary  and  liable  to  be  from  time  to  time 
abandoned  or  varied  as  experience  and  circumstances  shall  dictate ; constantly 
keeping  in  view  that  it  is  folly  in  one  nation  to  look  for  disinterested  favors 
from  another — that  it  must  pay  with  a portion  of  its  independence  for  what- 
ever it  may  accept  under  that  character — that  by  such  acceptance  it  may  place 
itself  in  the  condition  of  having  given  equivalents  for  nominal  favors,  and 
yet  of  being  reproached  with  ingratitude  for  not  having  given  more.  There 
can  be  no  greater  error  than  to  expect  or  calculate  upon  real  favors  from 
nation  to  nation.  It  is  an  illusion  which  experience  must  cure,  which  a just 
pride  ought  to  discard. 

These  are  the  parting  counsels  of  one  of  the  most  noble  minds 
and  patriotic  hearts  connected  with  our  history.  Washington’s 
farewell  address  stands  as  a revered  landmark  in  our  politics.  Two 
generations  of  eminent  American  statesmen  were  fond  of  quoting 
from  its  appropriate  and  wise  warnings.  These  never  were  more 
pertinent  or  more  needed  than  now.  The  voice  of  the  Father  of 
his  Country  calls  from  his  grave  to  posterity  to  beware  of  such  com- 
mercial treaties  as  show  partiality  to  one  nation  over  others,  and 
hence  to  beware  of  the  proposed  treaty  of  commerce  with  France, 
which  would  be  a treaty  of  that  very  kind. 

Our  favorable  balance  of  trade  is  mainly  due  to  the  policy 
which  has  built  up  domestic  instead  of  foreign  manufactures. 


18 


THE  DUTY  NOT  ADDED  TO  THE  PRICE. 


OTHER  TRIBUTES  TO  THE  EXCELLENCE 
OF  THE  PROTECTIVE  POLICY. 


THE  DUTY  NOT  ADDED  TO  THE  PRICE. 

Says  one  of  the  newspaper  advocates  of  a tariff  for  revenue 
only : “ It  is  one  of  the  beauties  of  the  Protective  system  that  it 
raises  the  prices  of  all  the  articles  produced  in  the  country  up  to 
at  least  the  price  of  the  imported  article  plus  the  amount  of  the 
duty/’  This  is  not  true. 

Many  years  ago,  when  Congress  had  imposed  a duty  of  eight 
cents  per  square  yard  upon  coarse  cotton  cloth,  the  same  grade  and 
quality  of  the  domestic  fabric  were  selling  in  the  American  market 
at  six  cents  per  square  yard. 

In  1844  and  1846,  in  the  debates  in  Congress  on  the  tariff  ques- 
tion, it  was  shown  that,  though  the  duty  on  glass  was  $4.00  a box, 
glass  was  actually  selling  at  $3.50  a box ; that  the  duty  on  nails 
was  three  and  one-half  cents  a pound,  while  nails  were  selling  for 
three  and  a quarter  cents  a pound ; that  the  duty  on  cotton  cloth 
was  seven  cents  a yard,  and  cotton  cloth  was  then  freely  sold  for  six 
cents  a yard. 

When  Congress,  in  1870,  reduced  the  duty  on  pig  iron  from  $9 
to  $7  per  ton,  British  manufacturers  immediately  held  a conference 
and  voted  to  put  the  sum  of  $2  per  ton  into  their  own  pockets  by 
increasing  their  prices  by  just  so  much. 

In  1872,  when  Congress  reduced  the  duty  on  salt  in  packages  to 
just  half  of  what  it  had  been,  and  on  salt  in  bulk  to  less  than  half, 
the  price  at  once  went  up  in  the  country  from  which  the  major  part 
of  our  importations  usually  came.  A correspondent  of  The  Inter- 
Ocean,  who  showed  a remarkable  familiarity  with  the  salt  question, 
wrote  to  that  paper  in  December,  1877,  as  follows : “ A few  years 
since  Congress  did  reduce  the  tariff  on  salt  more  than  half,  but 
the  very  same  day  that  the  new  tariff  went  into  effect  British  salt 
dealers  advanced  their  prices  fifteen  cents  per  bushel,  and  the  con- 
sumer in  America  got  no  benefit  from  the  reduction.” 

The  duty  on  chloroform  is  to-day  $1  per  pound,  and  American- 
made  chloroform  is  quoted  at  eighty-five  cents  per  pound  in  the 
Chicago  market. 


THE  DUTY  NOT  ADDED  TO  THE  PRICE. 


19 


Said  Senator  Davis,  of  Illinois,  when  the  question  of  reducing 
the  duty  on  quinine  was  pending  in  the  Senate : “ If  this  Congress 
does  nothing  else  than  repeal  the  duty  on  quinine,  it  will  not  have 
been  in  vain  that  it  was  called  together.”  The  rise  in  the  price  of 
this  medicine  shows  that  Senator  Davis  was  not  a wise  prophet. 
The  English  manufacturers  advanced  the  price  of  quinine  about 
37  i cents  an  ounce  the  next  day  after  the  repeal  of  the  duty  in 
the  United  States  became  telegraphically  known  in  Europe,  and 
in  New  York  the  price  at  once  advanced  from  $3.40  to  $3.50 
an  ounce.  The  price  still  tends  upward.  The  result  of  the  action 
of  Congress  in  repealing  the  duty  shows  that  the  duty  had  not  en- 
hanced the  price.  Were  the  Free  Trade  theory  correct,  the  repeal 
or  the  reduction  of  any  tariff  duty  should  be  followed  by  an  equiva- 
lent decline  in  the  prices  of  both  the  foreign  and  the  home-made  ar- 
ticle in  our  market. 

Under  the  late  Canadian  tariff  the  duty  on  printing  type  was  five 
per  cent.  The  new  tariff,  going  into  force  on  March  15,  1879,  in- 
creased the  duty  to  20  per  cent.  Thereupon  the  importing  agents 
of  a firm  of  British  manufacturers  advertised  in  the  Dominion 
newspapers  in  these  words : “ The  new  tariff  will  cause  us  consider- 
able loss,  and  impose  fresh  outlay  upon  us ; nevertheless,  we  have 
determined  to  sell  our  celebrated  extra  hard  metal  Scotch  type  at 
our  old  prices .”  Under  the  operations  of  the  new  tariff  the  price  of 
printing  ink  has  been  reduced  in  Canada.  The  St.  John  Sun  says  : 
**  Our  printing  office  bought  Canadian-made  printing  ink  of  a su- 
perior quality  yesterday  at  a cent  per  lb.  less  than  the  same  quality 
of  United  States  ink  is  offered.  That  is  to  say,  the  Canadian  ink 
cost  us  $8  per  100  lbs.,  with  freight  from  Montreal  added.  The 
United  States  ink  costs  $9  per  100  lbs.,  with  freight  from  Boston, 
and  20  per  cent,  duty  added.  Before  the  tariff,  United  States 
ink  such  as  we  use  cost  $9  and  freight  charges ; and,  as  freight  char- 
ges are  about  the  same  from  Montreal  as  from  Boston,  it  is  plain 
that  we  save  $1  per  100  lbs.  under  the  new  tariff.  There  are  now 
two  ink  factories  in  Canada.  The  new  duty  has  led  to  home  com- 
petition.” 

Under  the  Mackenzie-Cartwright  tariff,  in  Canada,  there  was  a 
duty  of  eleven  cents  a gallon  on  imported  vinegar,  and  yet  home- 
made vinegar  sold  as  low  as  twelve  cents  per  gallon. 

If  there  were  any  force  whatever  in  the  theory  that  the  duty  is 
added  to  the  price,  then  are  the  farmers  of  this  country  also  monop- 
olists. There  are  several  millions  of  these  farmers.  Our  Govern- 


20 


THE  DUTY  NOT  ADDED  TO  THE  PRICE. 


ment  levies  duties  on  all  foreign  products  which  compete  with  the 
products  of  American  farms.  If  these  duties  are  added  to  the  price 
of  the  domestic  products,  then  are  we  indeed  a fearfully  taxed 
people,  for  we  consume  more  agricultural  products  than  all  other 
products  combined.  We  will  let  Judge  Kelley  answer  such  non- 
sense. In  his  speech  in  May,  1878,  in  reply  to  Hon.  Fernando 
Wood,  he  gave  the  following  statement  of  the  quantity  of  wheat, 
barley,  potatoes,  corn,  oats,  and  rye  raised  in  this  country  in  1877, 
the  quantity  exported,  the  quantity  retained  for  home  consumption, 
the  rate  of  duty  on  each,  and  the  consequent  tax  imposed  on  the 
people  of  the  country  at  large  by  the  farmers  if  it  be  true  that 
duties  are  added  to  the  price  not  only  of  imported  articles  but  also 
to  those  of  domestic  production. 


Products. 

No.  of  bushels 
raised  in  1877. 

No.  of  bushels 
exported. 

Balance  for 
home 

consumption. 

Duty 

per 

bushel. 

Amount  of  tax  im- 
posed on  the  con- 
sumers  in  the 
United  States,  cal- 
culated in  accord- 
ance  with  the 
Free  Trade  dog- 
ma that  the  duty 
is  added  to  the 
price. 

Wheat 

Barley 

Potatoes 

Corn 

360.000. 000 

35.600.000 

146.000. 000 
1,340,000,000 

405.000. 000 

22.100.000 

57,043,936 

1,186,129 

529,650 

73,100,518 

2,854,128 

2,227,000 

302,956,064 

34,413,871 

145,470,350 

1,266,899,482 

402,145,872 

19,873,000 

$0  20 
15 
15 
10 
10 
10 

$60,591,212  80 
5,162,080  65 
21,820,552  50 
126,689,948  20 
40,214,587  20 
1,987,300  00 

Oats 

Rye 

Total 

2,308,700,000 

136,941,361 

2,171,758,639 

$256,465,681  35 

If  we  take  into  consideration  the  other  protected  agricultural 
productions  of  this  country,  it  would  appear  by  the  Free  Traders’ 
assumption  that  the  farmers  assessed  us  with  not  less  than  $600,- 
000,000  of  taxes  in  the  year  1877.  But  who  believes  that  they  did? 

It  is  one  of  the  beneficent  effects  of  the  Protective  policy  that  it 
stimulates  competition  in  the  production  of  manufactured  products, 
which  competition  reduces  prices  invariably.  Without  the  Protec- 
tion afforded  by  high  duties,  many  of  our  leading  industries  would 
never  have  had  an  existence — the  manufacture  of  steel  rails,  for 
instance,  while  others  would  have  had  only  a sickly  existence. 
Protective  duties  reduce  prices  because  they  oppose  domestic  com- 
petition to  foreign  monopoly  in  the  production  of  manufactured 
goods. 


THE  CONSOLATIONS  OF  THE  PROTECTED  FARMER. 


21 


THE  CONSOLATIONS  OF  THE  PROTECTED  FARMER. 

From  The  Toronto  ( Canada ) Mail. 

The  Yankee  farmer  rises  in  the  morning  tolerably  refreshed. 
True,  he  has  been  sleeping  on  a bed,  the  sheets,  blankets,  and  mat- 
tress of  which  would  have  been  taxed  from  60  to  180  per  cent,  had 
they  been  imported  from  a foreign  country.  But  they  are  home- 
made, and  his  dreams  have  not  been  disturbed  by  the  Free  Trade 
bugbear  that  “ Protection  raises  the  price  of  the  home  manufac- 
tured article  up  to  at  least  the  price  of  the  imported  article  plus  the 
import  duty.”  Mr.  David  A.  Wells  and  other  agents  of  the  Leeds 
and  Manchester  manufacturers  once  tried  to  frighten  him  with  this 
bogy ; but  experience  has  taught  him  that  it  is  only  a make-believe. 
There  is  an  import  duty  of  8 cents  a yard  on  cotton  sheeting,  but 
he  buys  it  from  the  cotton  factory  in  his  market  town  at  7 cents  a 
yard,  and  sees  enormous  quantities  of  it  going  to  England  in  com- 
petition with  Free  Trade  cotton,  to  Canada,  to  South  America,  and 
even  to  Australia.  Moreover,  he  knows  that  it  is  to  that  import 
duty  he  owes  the  establishment  of  the  neighboring  cotton  factory, 
whose  operatives  consume  his  produce,  and  give  him  a profitable 
home  market  for  rotation  crops.  The  same  is  true  of  his  blankets 
and  mattress ; indeed  he  is  well  satisfied  with  his  bed.  It  is  home- 
made ; it  cost  him  if  anything  less  than  an  imported  article ; and 
its  manufacture  has  given  employment  to  artisans  who  buy  the 
products  of  his  farm  almost  direct  from  his  wagon. 

He  proceeds  to  put  on  his  clothes,  nothing  alarmed  because  there 
is  a heavy  import  duty  on  foreign  tweed  cloths,  felt  hats,  boots,  and 
cotton  shirts.  His  suit  from  head  to  foot  is  of  American  make ; the 
profits  of  its  manufacture  have  gone  to  enrich  the  American  people, 
and  he  thinks  this  is  better  for  him  than  if  his  tweed  coat  had  come 
from  the  West  of  England,  his  hat  from  Nottingham,  his  shirt  from 
Manchester,  and  his  boots  from  Stockport.  The  clock  tells  him 
it  is  breakfast  time.  He  has  no  hard  feelings  against  the  clock  mere- 
ly because  foreign  clocks  are  taxed  35  per  cent. ; on  the  contrary 
it  reminds  him  of  the  clock  factories  of  Connecticut  and  the  thou- 
sands of  hands  to  whom  they  give  employment,  and  who  in  their 
turn  give  a market  and  an  increased  value  to  every  adjacent  farm. 

Breakfast  over — by  the  way,  American  importers  bring  his  tea 
direct  from  China,  not  via  Montreal  or  London — he  takes  to  his  farm 
implements.  F oreign  implements  such  as  spades,  shovels,  hoes,  forks, 
rakes,  etc.,  are  taxed  35  per  cent.  ; wooden  pails,  tubs,  churns,  etc., 
35  per  cent. ; and  plows,  harrows,  seed-sowers,  cultivators,  mowers, 


22 


THE  CONSOLATIONS  OF  THE  PROTECTED  FARMER. 


reapers,  threshing  machines,  etc.,  35  per  cent. ; and  in  1860,  when 
the  battle  of  the  Morrill  tariff  was  being  fought  in  Congress,  the 
agents  of  the  great  Bedford  and  Leicester  firms  predicted  that  an 
import  duty  on  their  goods  would  ruin  farming  in  the  United  States. 
He  has  discovered,  however,  that  this  is  not  true.  Home  factories 
have  sprung  up  everywhere,  and  the  keen  competition  has  not  only 
kept  down  prices  but  incited  the  inventive  genius  of  the  American 
mechanic,  so  that  Yankee  farm  implements  have  become  the  cheap- 
est and  the  best  in  the  world.  The  heavy  and  cumbrous  Eng- 
lish machines  are  being  driven  from  foreign  markets,  and  even  from 
the  English  market  ’ itself,  which  McCormick,  of  Chicago,  has  in- 
vaded with  great  success.  In  fact,  when  our  farmer  contemplates 
the  amazing  growth  and  proportions  of  this  industry,  it  occurs  to 
him  that  the  English  agents,  who  lobbied  and  even  bribed  politicians 
and  newspapers  to  oppose  the  high  tariff,  were  not  actuated  so  much 
by  regard  for  the  condition  of  the  Yankee  farmer  as  by  the  con- 
sciousness that  Protection  would  deprive  them  of  the  American 
market,  and  by  the  fear  that  it  would  in  the  long  run  make  the 
Yankee  manufacturer  a formidable  rival  in  other  markets. 

This  is  what  the  farmer  thinks  as  he  works  in  his  fields  and  about 
his  barnyard  during  the  forenoon.  He  is  startled  out  of  this  reverie 
by  the  toot  of  the  dinner  horn ; and  sits  down  at  the  table  nothing' 
put  out  by  the  reflection  that  tin  horns  of  foreign  make  are  taxed 
about  two  cents  each.  Neither  does  he  lose  his  appetite  when  he 
remembers  that  furniture,  such  as  the  chair  he  is  sitting  on,  the  table 
at  which  he  is  eating,  and  the  dresser  where  the  dishes  are  stored,  is 
taxed  35  per  cent,  when  of  foreign  make.  This  duty  has  helped  to 
establish  hundreds  of  furniture  factories  and  to  give  employment  to 
tens  of  thousands  of  mechanics  throughout  the  Union,  and  in  this 
way  has  benefited  him ; for  the  home  manufacturer  is  everywhere 
the  farmer’s  best  friend. 

After  dinner  he  sets  out  for  the  market  town,  and  as  he  journeys 
thither  he  pities  the  Canadian  farmer,  who,  as  a rule,  has  to  dispose 
of  his  produce  to  the  middlemen  that  stand  like  a row  of  tax  gath- 
erers, each  levying  his  tithe,  between  the  Kanuck  farm  and  the  for- 
eign consumer.  He  wonders,  too,  does  this  old  Yankee  farmer,  how 
the  Canadian  farms  endure  wheat  and  barley  year  after  year,  and 
rejoices  that  Protection  has  given  him  a home  market  to  which  he 
can  supply  almost  every  variety  of  crop.  He  is  following  this  train 
of  thought  when  he  enters  the  market  town  at  one  o’clock ; and  his 
sympathy  for  the  Canadian  farmer  is  deepened  as  he  sees  troops  of 


THE  CONSOLATIONS  OF  THE  PROTECTED  FARMER. 


23 


Canadian  operatives  returning  to  the  factories  from  their  dinner. 

“ I wonder,”  he  communes,  “ if  the  Kanuck  farmer  ever  sees  a 
crowd  of  Yankee  operatives  going  to  work  in  a Canadian  factory? 
Guess  not.  Then  what  do  Free  Traders  mean  by  arguing  that  Pro- 
tection, such  as  we  Yankees  are  cursed  with,  ruins  industry,  while 
Free  Trade,  with  which  the  Kanucks  have  long  been  blessed,  builds 
it  up  and  makes  a nation  great?  If  that  were  so  would  not  these 
active  little  French-Can adians  be  at  work  in  Montreal,  and  would 
not  our  Yankee  mechanics  be  pouring  over  there  also  ? How  is  it, 
ye  Free  Trade  theorists,  that  the  census  of  1870  showed  that  Canada 
with  four  millions  of  people  had  sent  us  nearly  half  a million,  or  one 
in  eight,  of  her  children?  And  how  is  it  that  the  Canadian  census 
of  1870  showed  that  we,  with  ten  times  four  millions,  had  sent 
Canada  only  70,000  Yankees?” 

By  this  time  he  has  reached  the  store,  and  soon  disposes  of  his 
wheat,  tomatoes,  carrots,  potatoes,  etc.  With  the  money  received 
in  payment  he  makes  his  little  purchases,  and  finds  no  small  conso- 
lation in  knowing  that  almost  every  dollar  he  pays  out  goes  to  home 
industries.  Outsiders  get  nothing  except  for  raw  articles  the  United 
States  can  not  produce,  such  as  tea  and  coffee.  “ Even  if  I have  to 
pay  a little  more  for  some  of  my  purchases,”  he  says  to  himself,  “it 
is  satisfactory  to  know  the  money  will  be  kept  in  the  country,  and 
paid  out  again  for  the  produce  I grow,  and  the  beef,  mutton,  and 
pork  I raise.” 

He  thinks  this  over  as  he  travels  homeward,  and  talks  Protection 
vs.  Free  Trade  with  his  sons  in  the  evening.  One  of  them  works  on 
the  farm,  and  the  others  are  at  trades  in  the  town — Canada  has  had 
no  attractions  for  them.  “You  boys  are  all  here,”  says  the  old  man, 
“ and  I guess  that  is  pretty  good  evidence  that  this  is  a habitable 
country,  Protection  and  all.  If  you  had  gone  to  Canada  or  Eng- 
land, and  settled  there,  and  were  writing  over  for  your  friends  and 
acquaintances  to  join  you,  as  the  half  million  Canadians  and  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  Englishmen  in  the  States  do,  I should  be 
inclined  to  suspect  something  was  wrong.  But  here  we  are,  draw- 
ing thousands  of  immigrants  every  year  from  Free  Trade  countries, 
while  retaining  our  own  folks  at  home ; paying  off  our  war  debt 
rapidly,  and  getting  our  bonds  into  our  own  hands ; exporting 
$300,000,000  a year  more  than  we  import ; developing  our  home 
industries,  pushing  our  foreign  trade,  and  going  ahead  like  thunder, 
in  spite  of  panics  and  bad  politics — boys,  I guess  we’ve  every  reason 
to  thank  God.” 


24 


WAGES  AND  THE  COST  OF  LIVING. 


Wages  and  the  Cost  of  Living. — The  annual  report  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Labor  contains  an  important 
report  upon  the  comparative  cost  of  living  and  comparative  wages 
of  1860  and  1878.  The  returns  for  63,515  employes  show  that 
average  weekly  wages,  on  a gold  basis,  were  twenty-four  and  four- 
tenths  per  cent,  higher  in  1878  than  they  were  in  1860. 

Groceries  have  advanced  in  price  7 per  cent. ; provisions,  28 ; 
fuel,  5 ; dry  goods  have  fallen  9 per  cent. ; boots  have  advanced  18 
per  cent.;  rents,  25;  board,  49.  On  all  these  items  of  expense 
entering  into  the  cost  of  living  the  average  price  was  fourteen  and 
a half  per  cent,  higher  in  1878  than  it  was  in  1860. 

In  other  words,  the  average’  weekly  wages  of  workingmen  in 
manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries  in  Massachusetts,  allow- 
ing for  the  advance  in  the  cost  of  living,  were  ten  per  cent,  higher 
in  1878  than  they  were  in  1860,  no  account  being  made  of  the  fact 
that  the  wages  in  1878  were  paid  for  fewer  hours  of  labor  per  week, 
in  many  industries,  than  were  required  in  1860. — Boston  Commer- 
cial Bulletin. 


The  Truth  about  Wages. — A few  days  ago  a distinguished 
United  States  Senator  is  reported  to  have  said : “ There  has  never 
been  a day  when  a day’s  labor  would  buy  so  many  of  the  necessa- 
ries and  the  luxuries  of  life  as  a day’s  labor  will  buy  to-day.” 
There  is  truth  in  this  utterance,  and  the  Boston  Advertiser  point- 
edly suggests  that  those  who  are  trying  to  foment  discontent,  and 
proclaiming  that  the  present  times  are  the  worst  times,  would 
do  well  to  think  upon  it.  There  have  been  times  when  the  wages 
of  labor  were  higher,  but  they  were  times  when  everything  which 
was  bought  with  the  wages  was  higher  too.  Low  as  wages  are, 
the  improvement  of  business  that  has  come  leaves  very  few 
idle  who  are  willing  to  work,  and  all  who  will  work  can  get 
to-day  a better  living  for  their  wages  than  ever  before,  better  than 
during  the  flush  times  of  the  war  or  the  period  after  the  war.  The 
poor  man  who  will  work  has  as  good  a chance  now  to  get  ahead 
and  become  a capitalist  as  the  poor  man  ever  had. 


The  purchasing  power  of  farm  products  is  now  nearly  double 
what  it  was  before  the  war,  and  considerably  greater  than  it  was 
during  the  flush  times  of  1873.  Whatever  the  farmer  has  to  buy 
he  buys  at  lower  prices  than  ever  before  prevailed  in  our  country ; 
while  the  prices  of  everything  that  he  has  to  sell  remain  satisfactory. 


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